Most of the salt Americans consume comes from processed foods, which may not taste salty at all.
Humans can't live without salt, but most Americans could do with far less of it. On average, they consume roughly twice the amount their bodies need. All that gorging has boosted rates of hypertension, heart disease and stroke, costing the U.S. up to $24 billion in health care costs and 150,000 lives every year. Amid growing public-health concern, PepsiCo announced plans to introduce a "designer salt" (its crystals are shaped in a way that wrings more taste out of smaller amounts) that will reduce the sodium in Lay's Classic potato chips and other snacks by 25% over the coming decade.
Sodium chloride wasn't always a stealth killer. Despite a known link between sodium and high blood pressure, iodized table salt saved lives when U.S. manufacturers started producing it in 1924, adding a bulwark against iodine-deficiency-related diseases like goiter to every kitchen table. Salt consumption spiraled into a public-health problem only after World War II, when postwar prosperity buoyed appetites for restaurant meals and presalted, processed and frozen foods. Salt-free cookbooks were already appearing by the 1950s, and two decades later manufacturers dropped salt from baby food. By 1981 the FDA had launched sodium-education initiatives aiming to cut U.S. salt intake. Three years later, sodium was added to the list of ingredients required to be mentioned on nutrition labels.
Despite such efforts to increase awareness, salt consumption in the U.S. has jumped 50% over the past four decades. One reason: salt often lurks where you don't expect it. A dollop of cottage cheese, for instance, can pack twice as much of the mineral as a palmful of salted peanuts. Plus, as much as 75% of Americans' sodium intake comes from processed foods like canned soup and baking mixes--which means you could easily blow past your daily allotment without ever picking up the saltshaker.